Man gets life in deal on family’s killings

MONTICELLO (AP) — A LaGrange man will spend the rest of his life in prison after admitting that he killed his wife and 5-month-old son.

At a hearing yesterday, Christopher M. Piersee accepted a plea agreement in the deaths of 21-year-old wife Patricia Yarbrough Piersee and the couple’s son, Landon.

The Hannibal Courier-Post reported the 24-year-old Piersee agreed to plead guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.

Prosecutors say Piersee shot his wife at their home on Feb. 3, then killed the couple’s son with a blow to the head. Investigators found red crosses drawn in blood on both victims’ bodies and words in blood scrawled around the bedroom.

The victims’ family members said after the hearing they were glad Piersee admitted guilt but they had wanted him to get the death penalty.